After months of searching, we've finally stumbled across a Rasheed
Wallace trade rumor that makes some sense for the Portland Trail
Blazers.

Rumors were rampant Thursday that the Warriors have been talking to
the Blazers about a trade that would send Wallace to Golden State
for Nick Van Exel and Erick Dampier. The Oregon Live Web site and
the San Francisco Chronicle are reporting similar stories this
morning.

Is there any truth to the rumors? Yes ... and no.

According to one Insider source, the two sides have been talking,
and a Wallace-for-Van Exel-and-Dampier scenario is the best offer
Blazers' GM John Nash has received and something the team is
interested in exploring. However, another source insists nothing
will happen until closer to the Feb. 19 trade deadline.

"Everyone's exploring their options right now," the source told
Insider. "Everyone's talking to everyone. I don't think decisions
will be made until they have to be made. The offers keep getting
sweeter for Rasheed, which means that Nash won't be in any hurry to
pull the trigger."

Why the Blazers would do it

Why are the Blazers so interested? The bottom line is Nash needs to
find a way to keep this team competitive, solve its long-term
salary-cap problems and start changing its image, all at the same
time. That isn't easy, and this is the first trade proposal that
really addresses all three issues.

The Blazers have been looking for a legitimate center ever since
Arvydas Sabonis retired the first time. Dampier has put up all-star
worthy numbers in Golden State this season and could be a long-term
solution in the middle. Dampier has two more years and $17 million
left on his contract, which is pretty reasonable considering the
going rate on big men. Dampier does have an opt out in his contract
after this season, but the Blazers can afford to re-sign him should
he opt out.

Van Exel has only one more year of guaranteed money left on his
deal. The Blazers believe that, on a team competing for the
playoffs, Van Exel can still be an asset. If he instead is a pain in
the butt, like he's been in Golden State, they're free to dump him
anytime and are looking at $12 million of extra cap space in the
summer of 2005.

By pulling the trigger on this trade, the Blazers would reduce their
payroll by almost $25 million next season and should still be
roughly $18 million under the cap in 2005, once Dale Davis, Damon
Stoudamire and Van Exel come off the books. They'll need some of
that money to re-sign Zach Randolph, but either way the Blazers
would remain competitive and get plenty of cap room to work with
after the 2004-05 season.

A lineup of Dampier, Randolph, Darius Miles, Derek Anderson, Van
Exel and Stoudamire should be able to remain competitive in the West
until the Blazers can make more wholesale changes in 2005.
The trade also opens the door to at least one more transaction that
makes sense. Davis has been a huge problem in Portland of late, and
the Blazers are eager to move him. The problem has been the
inability to get a big man in exchange. With Dampier on board, the
team would be free to move Davis to the highest bidder. The Raptors
and Mavericks have shown the most interest in Davis, and if the
Blazers can get back a contract that expires after next season and a
prospect, they'll pull the trigger.

Why the Warriors would do it

The Warriors have as much or more incentive to do the trade than do
the Blazers. Obviously, last summer's trade of Van Exel for Antawn
Jamison and Jiri Welsch has been a disaster. But now they have an
excellent chance to correct the mistake.

If the Warriors ship Van Exel and Dampier for Wallace, they'll be
looking at around $20 million in cap room this summer. That's enough
to make the Warriors instant players in the Kobe Bryant sweepstakes
or give them flexibility to go another route.

The loss of Dampier is a major blow , but the cap flexibility is
more important in the long run. The Warriors haven't been a major
player in the free-agent market for years. This would give Chris
Mullin his first chance to really reshape the team in his image. It
also gives them a chance to give Eric Musselman the type of
defenders he's been begging for.

The Warriors would retain their young core -- Jason Richardson, Mike
Dunleavy, Troy Murphy, Mickael Pietrus and Speedy Claxton -- while
having the same cap flexibility as the Nuggets and Jazz.

If Kobe wants to play in Golden State, the Warriors will be free to
move Richardson and get something else valuable in return. If he
doesn't, the team could make a run at a young big like Mehmet Okur,
Kenyon Martin or Stromile Swift. Or the Warriors could make a run at
a few veterans like Vlade Divac and Gary Payton to make a big-time
playoff run. They could try to re-sign Wallace to a more reasonable
contract or work out a sign and trade with a team that wants him.
And the move gives them plenty of room to re-sign Adonal Foyle, if
they choose.

The bottom line in Golden State is management is willing to do just
about anything to have those options. The team has been out of the
playoffs longer than any other team in the league and is ready for
that to change. The Warriors want to keep their young core intact,
but after that they're open to anything that gives them the freedom
to choose their own course.

That makes this trade a slam dunk for Golden State.

Van Exel gone no matter what?

Van Exel's agent, Tony Dutt, put the odds at 60-40 that Van Exel
will be moved before Feb. 19 trade deadline.

"My gut feeling is that they're going to try to make a deal that
makes sense for Nick and makes sense for them," Dutt told the San
Francisco Chronicle. Dutt is in Houston right now with Van Exel, who
left the team early this week to deal with a "family matter."
According to the Chronicle, Warriors GM Garry St. Jean and Warriors
president Robert Rowell are believed to have met with the Blazers'
Nash on Saturday.

Dutt told the paper that "there is no question" the Blazers were one
of the teams talking trade with the Warriors.

"You get so much going on at this time of the year that there is a
lot of unknown yet," Dutt said. "Everybody is talking to everybody.
It's no different than any other year. I think you can sit there and
say, 'Yes, there will be some moves this year.' At the same time, at
the end of the day, how many of them get done?"

Orlando Magic: Grant Hill told the Orlando Sentinel that he
hopes to rejoin the team for practice in late February after being
cleared to resume full-scale basketball activities. Hill said he is
aiming at playing the last 10 games of the season. "The most it can
be is 10 games from what I hear," Hill said. "I'm just glad to be
able to play. I don't like to be restricted, but it fits my
schedule." According to the Sentinel, 80 percent of Hill's contract
is covered by insurance as long as he doesn't exceed 10 games this
season.

Cleveland Cavaliers: For the second time in as many weeks the Cavs
reiterated that Zydrunas Ilgauskas is no longer on the trading
block. "We are where we're going to be," coach Paul Silas told the
News Herald. "(That won't change) unless something crazy comes
about. I never say never. But, basically, we're not looking to do
anything. We're settled in. Everyone is playing well. It's coming
together."

New Jersey Nets: New Nets coach Lawrence Frank believes that Alonzo
Mourning will eventually return to the Nets, though this season is
out of the question. "Alonzo, that's a very, very special guy. So
you never forget. And we remember Alonzo every day. We talk about
him every day. We put his number on the board every time we go out
and prepare for a game," Frank told the N.Y. Post. "At some time,
he's going to be back with us hopefully in one capacity or another.
We haven't talked about that, but it's something I'm going to pull
his leg [over], God-willing, if everything looks great with his
health, we'd love to have him around. Whether it's in an official
capacity or not, I don't know."

Boston Celtics: Celtics director of basketball operations Danny
Ainge is getting testy. Criticism of Ainge and how he's ran the team
has been rampant. Ainge has a message for all of his critics. "As
far as I'm concerned, keep speculating, keep wondering, keep
dreaming that Danny's being reckless with no plan," Ainge told the
Boston Globe. "I don't care. It's ludicrous. If they can't see it,
that's OK with me. I have a plan that's going to work. I have a plan
to build a team that is better offensively than we've been, that is
good defensively. But you have to have talent to win. You have to
have character and professionalism to win. That's my plan, to
develop that. And you have to have a coach who is the leader of that
group. And you have to have players on the team that are leaders.
That's all in the plan. That doesn't happen in six months. It takes
time. So, my plan hasn't wavered from the first day to today. I know
that's easy to say. But if every move is judged as its own entity,
then that is very, very shortsighted. There is a plan and we are on
the same page in this organization. It's not in chaos. [The plan] is
well formulated and well thought out and it will be successful."

Hill plans return late next month
Brian Schmitz / Orlando Sentinel

'Z' is Cavs' center of present
Bob Finnan / Lorain Morning Journal

'Zo Remains In Nets' Plans
Fred Kerber / New York Post

Unstable, or right on track?
Shira Springer / Boston Globe

ChicagoJ

01-30-2004, 11:50 AM

Rasheed Wallace
Blazers

Interested:
Warriors
Mavericks
Knicks
Hawks
Cavs
Rockets
Nets

Jan. 30 - The San Francisco Chronicle and the Oregon
Live website (home of The Oregonian) are reporting the
Blazers and Warriors are involved in talks that would
send 'Sheed to Golden State for Nick Van Exel and Erick
Dampier. The move is an obvious cap-cutting attempt by
the Warriors that could leave them around $20 million in
cap room next season.

Is there any truth to the rumors? Yes ... and no.
According to one Insider source, the two sides have been
talking, and a Wallace-for-Van Exel-and-Dampier scenario
is the best offer Blazers' GM John Nash has received and
something the team is interested in exploring. However,
another source insists nothing will happen until closer
to the Feb. 19 trade deadline.

Nick Van Exel
Warriors

Interested:
Blazers

Jan. 30 - Van Exel's agent, Tony Dutt, put the
odds at 60-40 that Van Exel will be moved before Feb. 19
trade deadline. "My gut feeling is that they're going to
try to make a deal that makes sense for Nick and makes
sense for them," Dutt told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Dutt is in Houston right now with Van Exel, who left the
team early this week to deal with a "family matter."
According to the Chronicle, Warriors GM Garry St. Jean
and Warriors president Robert Rowell are believed to
have met with the Blazers' Nash on Saturday. Dutt told
the paper that "there is no question" the Blazers were
one of the teams talking trade with the Warriors.

Dale Davis
Blazers

Interested:
Raptors
Mavs

Jan. 30 - Davis has been a huge problem in Portland
of late, and the Blazers are eager to move him. The
problem has been the inability to get a big man in
exchange. If the Blazers can land Erick Dampier in a
trade, the team would be free to move Davis to the
highest bidder. The Raptors and Mavericks have shown the
most interest in Davis, and if the Blazers can get back
a contract that expires after next season and a
prospect, they'll pull the trigger.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Cavs

Interested:
Knicks
Mavericks
Blazers

Jan. 30 - Is Zydrunas off the block? With so many
teams in need of a big man, Ilgauskas has been a pretty
hot commodity. The Mavs (for Antawn Jamison), Knicks
(for Keith Van Horn and Frank Williams) and Blazers (for
Rasheed Wallace) have all tried to pry Ilgauskas away,
but so far GM Jim Paxson isn't biting.
For the second time in as many weeks the Cavs reiterated
that Ilgauskas is no longer on the trading block. "We
are where we're going to be," coach Paul Silas told the
News Herald. "(That won't change) unless something crazy
comes about. I never say never. But, basically, we're
not looking to do anything. We're settled in. Everyone
is playing well. It's coming together."

Jamal Crawford
Bulls

Interested:
Clippers
Knicks

Jan. 29 - The Bulls and Clippers began discussions
about a week ago on a way to get big man Melvin Ely to
Chicago. Since then, however, talk of a larger
Bulls-Clippers swap has taken hold. Bulls GM John Paxson
likes Clippers' combo guard Marko Jaric and has tried to
get him worked into the deal. The Clippers are balking
unless the Bulls throw in their combo guard, Jamal
Crawford.

Can the two sides make a deal? If the Clippers were
willing to substitute local product Quentin Richardson
for Jaric, the Bulls would give up Crawford in a
heartbeat. However, it's very unlikely that the Clippers
would do that, even with the possibility of landing Kobe
Bryant to replace Richardson this summer. More
realistically, Ely, Jaric and Keyon Dooling for Fizer
and Crawford works salary-wise and would address the
needs of both clubs.

Shandon Anderson
Knicks

Interested:
???

Jan. 29 - How desperate is Isiah Thomas to trade
Shandon Anderson? According to Newsday, Thomas has tried
to pawn him off on the Blazers (for Ruben Patterson, a
convicted felon), the Mavericks (for Tariq Abdul-Wahad
who basically can't play) and the Raptors (for Lamond
Murray).